To Dance with Swords at Our Throats
by Bonnie Hunter
Summary: Giovanni's looking for a new partner to rule the world with; Cyrus isn't interested but how long will that last? AbsoluteControlShipping, rated T to be safe. There may be more chapters to come depending on how many people are interested in it.
1. Chapter 1

"So this is the mighty leader of Team Galactic?" Dust fell off the burlap sack as it was ripped off Cyrus's head, leaving Cyrus in a pathetic coughing fit in front of his captors. The cuffs on his wrists were removed and tossed onto the desk. "Aren't you a bit young to be running a crime organization?"

"Aren't you a bit old?" Cyrus growled as he leaned back into the small chair. "It's Giovanni, right? I assume you have your reasons for this sudden…intrusion."

The Rocket Boss smirked and unfolded his arms, placing his palms behind him on the desk.

"Believe it or not I do…First off I want to apologize for how my men treated you, I did tell them to be gentle."

"Yes because drugging me, throwing a burlap sack over my head and overall kidnapping me must be the new definition for 'gentle'."

Giovanni's smirk turned into a frown. He pushed off from the desk and slowly sauntered around Cyrus's chair, his arms folding around his back.

"Once again I am deeply sorry; my Grunts are like wild dogs. If I let them off the leash for even less than a minute they cause all kinds of chaos." Giovanni laughed at his metaphor but stopped short when he realized that Cyrus had remained silent. "Ahem well, back to the point, I know that there has been some bad blood between our groups but I hope that you and I can put this behind us."

A tremor ran through Cyrus's body as Giovanni placed his rather large hands on his thin shoulders.

Cyrus had a strict rule against people touching him.

It made him uncomfortable; to have someone reach into his personal space and be unsure of whether or not they mean harm. It brought him back to his days as child, back to the memories of the horrible man that he once called 'father'.

So it was almost a natural reaction to stand abruptly and twist one of the offending hands to the point of breakage, when said offending hand's thumb brushed possessively against the back of his neck.

"Do. Not. Touch Me." He snarled, his hold on the hand tightening.

Giovanni frowned, his thick Italian eyebrows forming together to make his stern expression and darken his grey eyes. With little effort he tugged his hand away from Cyrus's grip.

"Very well," Giovanni stepped around Cyrus and went back to his desk, sliding into the large leather chair. "Now I'm not so sure about Team Galactic but I believe we have a common goal. To gain control like the power hungry bastards we are, so, to make this short, why not forget our differences and combine our efforts? Make things simpler?" From within his desk Giovanni withdrew a long sheet of paper with two black pens, placing them on the desk. "Once our goals are accomplished we split the territory fifty/fifty, you can get the first pick if it pleases you."

A moment of silence passed between them as Cyrus eyed the contract set in front of him, perfectly aware of the other man watching him intently. He already had a dislike for the other man and the idea of working with him repulsed Cyrus down to his very core.

"Tempting as it may sound; I'll have to decline it. I have never been good at working with others, especially not low self absorbed bastards such as you."

Giovanni sighed and retracted the contract.

"Very well, there are few of my Grunts outside the door, they will escort you out. Oh and Cyrus...?"

Cyrus already had his hand on the doorknob. He tried to convince himself to leave and pretend he didn't hear the older man, but he figured that Giovanni would follow him out into the hallway anyways.

"Don't believe that this isn't the last time you and I will be meeting."

Cyrus's grip on the knob tightened as he spat out his response to the man with as much venom in the words as his tongue would allow.

"You better hope it is."

As Cyrus was leaving, Giovanni's Persian slid through the door and curled up by her Master's feet.

"He seemed pleasant." She said drily as she rested her head on Giovanni's wingtips.

"There's nothing to worry about Megara, he was just being a brat is all." Giovanni said rather mournfully as he replaced the contract back into its drawer. "He'll come around eventually."

"He looked like he was on the verge of taking your head off…"

"That's what makes him intriguing…"


	2. Chapter 2

2

"Where the hell have you been?" was the first question Cyrus heard when he tiredly stepped into his office. It was asked by his second in command Murkrow, Azazel who sat upon his desk using his talons to shift through paperwork. "You missed two meetings, one with the new recruits and the other with Valley Wind-Works. Have you ever listened to Mars try to give a speech? Completely horrific!"

"Azazel, I'm not in the mood." Cyrus mumbled as he pushed the pile of paper aside and collapsed into his chair. It was a long drive from Johto to Sinnoh, finally ending with Giovanni's Grunts tossing him out of a black unmarked van around midnight. Hanging on the end of his chair was his grey jacket which he had left behind earlier that day. He reached into one of the pockets and pulled out a set of keys. "Cancel tomorrow's- I mean today's meetings, I'm going home."

Azazel's eyes widen the papers in his talons grasp fell out onto the floor.

"But…but…you have…you can't just-"

"Yes I can, and if I'm going home so are you."

With low groan Azazel flew upon Cyrus's shoulder, ruffling his feathers slightly as Cyrus stood.

"So where have you been? You smell alcohol; you haven't been drinking, have you?"

Cyrus frowned as he locked the door to his office. Bending his nose into his shoulder he realized that he did smell somewhat akin to liquor. It must have been from that damn van.

"No not all, I was…at a business meeting, in a way."

"Business meeting? With who exactly, a stripper?"

"Azazel you know me, am I the kind of person that would ….hire a courtesan?"

"Right my bad, I keep forgetting that you're saving your virginity for your wedding night-." Azazel cawed loudly as Cyrus pushed him off his shoulder. "Oh come on, you know I'm joking!"

"Giovanni…as in Giovanni Sakaki of Rocket Industries? THAT Giovanni?"

"For the millionth time yes, Azazel," Cyrus mumbled, taking another sip of his morning coffee before continuing. "Why does it matter?"

Azazel huffed slightly and flew to Cyrus's desk on the other end of his small apartment, as Cyrus returned to his late breakfast. From the kitchen island he could hear Azazel ruffling through his things. Cyrus knew that Rocket Industries was one of the largest companies in Kanto but he couldn't see why Azazel was so concerned about his conversation with Giovanni until the Murkrow came back and dropped a thick newspaper on top of Cyrus's breakfast.

The front page had a picture of the older Italian (speak of the devil) shaking hands with Champion Lance of the Kanto Region. Cyrus skimmed the article mentally annotating. Apparently last year Rocket Industries had won an award for its advanced technologies and products, not to mention their tribute to the science field.

"Rocket Industries is an enormous company with roots in both Kanto and Johto. They bring in about three hundred million a year, and that's just their legal trade." Azazel exclaimed. "And you refused to join companies with him."

Cyrus moved the newspaper off his plate and turned it over to prevent the grey eyes from penetrating him any further.

"Our companies are completely different, besides I don't believe that the Rockets reputation will benefit our company. Not to mention, Giovanni's an ass."

Azazel made a low groan and flew over Cyrus's shoulder. He landed upon the arm of the couch, next to an older Weavile was peacefully sleeping.

"Crowley, help me out here." he growled.

"Azazel, don't drag me into this." Crowley snarled, hiding his face under his paw. "I've known the kid longer, no means no."

"This could be a large opportunity for Galactic Incorporated though!"

"Stop pressing him then, the kid will agree eventually just stop bugging him."

"But he's being stubborn! And its Rocket industries!"

"I am right here!" Cyrus snapped over his shoulder. "And I'm not a child. I'm twenty seven for Arceus's sake."


	3. Chapter 3

3

Cyrus hated wearing his suit. It was uncomfortable on more than one level and was too warm for any weather. He especially hated wearing it for this occasion. After a week of nagging and arguing, Cyrus finally allowed for Azazel to arrange a meeting with Rocket Industries. It took a few phone calls but after a few days a business meeting was set in Johto.

He could feel Giovanni's eyes focused on him as the meeting strained on. The man would probably mock him after this meeting. Cyrus did his best to not think about it. The contract from before was brought up again and looked over by the best lawyers Galactic Inc could afford. In this case they were the interns that were still in law school and shrank into their seats at the sight of the professional Rocket lawyers.

Finally after an hour and a half, the rewritten contract was placed in front of him. Giovanni had moved from the other end of the table to the space behind Cyrus's chair.

"There, are you happy now?" Cyrus growled as he handed back the contract.

"Ecstatic." Giovanni said nonchalantly as he folded up the paper.

"I wasn't talking to you…."

Even though Azazel didn't answer, Cyrus could feel him practically vibrating with joy on the edge of Cyrus's chair. If it wasn't said before, Azazel was in charge of ninety percent of Galactic Inc but the ten percent of control that Cyrus had. That made it so Azazel couldn't make any changes to the company without Cyrus's consent, which was why he needed Cyrus to agree to this and come to the meeting.

"I'm glad that you finally changed your position." Giovanni said as they were leaving the room. "If your party is interested, there is a small tavern downstairs. It will be my treat."

"I'll have to decline-"

Azazel's wing suddenly slapped Cyrus's mouth shut as the bird interrupted him.

"Of course we will. We will meet you down there in a few minutes."

Only after Giovanni exclaimed his 'excitement' over the matter and was well ways down the hall did Azazel removed his wing.

"Why would you accept his invitation?"

"Because it would be rude to decline it…"Azazel snorted as he hastily flew off Cyrus's shoulder and in the direction of their hotel room. "We really need to work on your social skills."

Cyrus stood there for a moment watching Azazel disappeared around the corner.

"But I don't drink."


	4. Chapter 4

4

"Ah here he comes, Cyrus try to be social." Azazel muttered.

Cyrus grunted in response as the hideous orange suit came into vision.

"So that's the guy that's been stealing your lunch money?" Crowley joked as he leaned into his seat. "He doesn't look so bad…neither does his companion…"

Cyrus guessed he was talking about the Persian strutting beside Giovanni. He looked down at his feet as the Italian took the seat across from him.

"Sorry we're late, Cyrus this is my assistant Megara. I believe you two already met."

"Only for a brief moment," The Persian said, walking around the table to Cyrus's side. "It's nice to finally meet you Mr. Akagi." She offered a paw in greetings which Cyrus took in his hand.

"And you as well."

She smiled and ducked under the table, going back to Giovanni's side. Well at least his Pokémon have some manners.

The night moved by slowly as if it was moving through molasses.

At one point Giovanni and Cyrus were alone; Azazel had retired for the night with the grunts, and Crowley had followed Megara when she left even though Cyrus begged him not to. Cyrus would have left too if Azazel had threatened to arrange a Sunday lunch with him and his mother, the worst person to spend any Sunday with.

The conversation at first was bleak at first, but after the third glass of wine (Giovanni may be an ass but he was an ass with good taste), both of their tongues began loosening. Giovanni talked (more of boasted) about his gym back in Kanto, it led to a discussion about their companies, then family history (there was a rousing game of who had the worst parents), Giovanni's failed marriage a few years back and that was when they started on the second bottle and things became blurry.

Then it slipped away like water in Cyrus's hands, the last recallable memory in his mind involving Giovanni talking about retiring for the night. Everything was faded and Cyrus knew that he was leaving the bar, he had a feeling that he wasn't going to his hotel room.

And the rest was lost.


End file.
